Doreen is the Admissions Co-ordinator in the Student Services department based on the Henderson campus and is also a Distance learning tutor for the School of Theology. As an admissions co-ordinator and the a distance learning tutor, Doreen is in a privileged place to be included in part of the life journeys of our students. She delights in seeing them develop academic skills alongside their confidence in who God is and how this shapes the world they live in. She is also the Chairperson for the Laidlaw Komiti Pasifika meetings and is a staff mentor to the Komiti Pasifika leaders.
Doreen's MTh dissertation was based on the work of the London Missionary Society in the South Pacific during the 1800's and the influence of their mission initiatives in a Contemporary Pacific Island community. She would like to do more study on Theological reflections of social policies that focus on climate change that affect small Pacific Island nations such as Tokelau, Kiribati and Tuvalu.
Doreen was born in the Kiribati Islands (Gilbert Islands), of Tokelauan and Tuvaluan descent, but was raised in West Auckland. After she completed a BMin at Laidlaw College in 2006, she spent two years in Masan, South Korea teaching English at a Hagwon (private English academy), where she developed a love for Gakkdugi Kimchi and K-pop music.
On return to New Zealand, she completed her MTh and worked in the student support department at Laidlaw and then was offered an opportunity to be an instructor for the Certificate programme. She is a recipient of the Wilberforce Trust scholarship and is currently enrolled in an online doctoral programme with Fullers Theological Seminary. She is working through a methodology for her research topic focused on an indigenous eco-theological and missional response to climate change.
Doreen loves to travel and dreams of being able to fly to a random country, waiting at the arrivals section for someone she knows to also arrive, sharing the novelty of being in a different country and being immersed in a different culture. She has visited Israel, Kiribati, Nauru, Dubai, Fiji, Australia, Thailand, Japan, Hawaii and Tuvalu but has fallen in love with New York city, where she plans to retire. But for now she calls West Auckland home and attends St Giles Presbyterian church in Te Atatu South, serving as a member on the Board of Managers, a Session Elder, is a drummer in the Worship team and is currently the Kid’s ministry co-ordinator. She is also a delegate member of the Presbyterian Women of Aotearoa New Zealand (PWANZ) to the Commission for the Status of Women to the UN.